The wait is finally
over. The waders are back. Naturally, I made a visit to the mudflats at Bagan
Belat in Penang - my first for the season. But
the rain clouds that were floating menacingly in the horizon threatened to cut
short my day at the 'beach'.
The occasional
drizzles that followed were bearable to both birds and birder. The poor
lighting made it a challenge to obtain sharp images. Distance and the constant
movement of my subjects only made things worse. To get the ball rolling was
this Curlew Sandpiper in partial breeding plumage. Extra caution was taken
whenever I came across those showing traces of dark colouring on their
underparts just in case it was a Dunlin. Now, that would have been a great way
to start off wader season...
The tide was a little
too low for optimum viewing and most of the waders were feeding at the far end
of the mudflats. But the faint aroma of the exposed mud, the sea breeze softly
caressing your face, the tantalizing calls of waders filling the vicinity and
most of all, the possibility of finding a rarity among the flocks amassed in
front of you made me realize just how much I miss this. Anyway, an estimated
700 waders were way beyond the reach of my gear. This time only God knows what
else these young Asian Dowitchers (Thanks to Dave for the identification correction. Now I know it has really been too long) had for company out there...
Thankfully, a few did
forage near the coastline. These juvenile Lesser Sand-plovers came quite close
indeed.
The long upturned bill
of the Terek Sandpiper is perfectly adapted for probing into mud to locate and
acquire food.
Stints are the
smallest wader on the mudflats. The Red-necked Stint is the commonest of them
all and this individual in partial breeding plumage showed just how small it
was although it was only standing next to a Lesser Sand-plover.
The Common Redshanks
are difficult to miss. The size and loud vocals make them one of the most
conspicuous waders around.
The sun did come out
later in the morning and to help me celebrate this turn of event, a Terek
Sandpiper foraged in front of where I have positioned myself.
There is a saying,
make hay while the sun shines. In my case (and every other birder's), it is not
the sun I have to worry about. It is the hay because my "hay" can
(and will) fly off and disappear from sight in a blink of an eye.
Here is the Red-necked
Stint in a different light.
Finally, the top
performers of the day again - the Lesser Sand-plovers. A little dose of
sunshine certainly brought its photos to life. Although no rarities were
recorded, the commoners have done a pretty good job of commemorating the
arrival of the migratory waders to our shores and made sure that I will be back
for more in the months to come.
3 comments:
Always a joy to read your blog Mun. You might wanna recheck those godwits though!
Nice variety of familiar (to birders in Asia) waders..
Thanks, Dave. For your comment and the ID correction. Asian Dowitchers made the trip even better.
Thanks, John.
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